The Promises We Make
by AriesInRetrograde
Summary: Even in Izuku's darkest moments, his Kacchan was the light that guided him through it and on those days where Katsuki hates the world around him, his Deku gives him something to love. Now that they are teenagers and the entrance exam for the U.A. hero course is just around the corner, both are determined to keep the promises they have made to each other but... can they?


_A four year old Izuku Midoriya is sat cross-legged on his bed, staring at the wall ahead of him intensely. He'd been sitting that way for several hours, having even refused dinner to continue his one-sided staring contest with the white layer of painted plaster. He'd been sitting there for so long that his mother was on the verge of calling a doctor but she had refrained thus far because, after their appointment at the hospital earlier, the last thing her son needed was more doctors._

 _That one heart-breaking, dream-shattering word was speeding around his brain repeatedly, taking up every space it could find in his head and making it impossible for the young, green-haired boy from thinking of anything else; Quirkless. He was Quirkless. Even in his own head, the word sounded like an insult, the bi-syllabic word too sharp to the ear, blunt and stunted, leaving a poisonous echo in its wake every time he heard it inside his mind._

 _From a very young age, Izuku Midoriya had wanted to be a hero and he had made a promise to himself that nothing would stand in his way. At the time, he'd truly believed that and he'd continued to believe it until the moment that his doctor had torn his ambitions to shreds with his prognosis. How could he move past this? How could he be a hero now? The truth was that, well… he simply couldn't._

 _Hearing the door creak, Izuku closed his eyes and let out a small sigh, turning his face to the side in an attempt to hide his expression from the unwanted presence that he simply assumed was his mother. "I'm still not hungry, mama." he muttered miserably, hoping she would just leave him alone again. That wasn't what happened though and it had been clear that the individual intruding on his solitude certainly wasn't his mother when he heard a soft gravelly voice ring out in the silence of his bedroom. "Deku?"_

 _Turning to the source of the voice, his eyes landed on the blonde boy that it belonged to, seeing two red eyes wide with an emotion that both were too young to understand; empathy. Still, despite that, Izuku found himself comforted slightly by the expression, enough for him to finally let go of the tears that had been threatening to fall for hours. With a raspy sob, his body exploded into a series of small jerks as his that initial sob was chased by an immeasurable amount of others, tears rolling down his freckles cheeks as he looked at his best friend with the most defeated look you would ever see on a boy his age. "K-Kacchan…"_

 _Katsuki was by his side in a fraction of a second, arms looped around around the back of his neck, pulling Izuku into a tight hug and the green-haired boy simply buried his face into his Kacchan's shoulder, his arms snaking around his best friend's waist and gripping at fistfuls of the back of his t-shirt. "I-I'll never be a hero now. I'll never be like All Might." he spluttered through his sobs, words slightly muffled from its place in the crook of Kacchan's neck_

 _The blonde four year-old, only two months older than Izuku, squeezed his eyes shut at his best friend's defeatist words. Katsuki didn't want to hear those words. His Deku was the bravest and smartest person he knew and if he couldn't be a hero then nobody could, with or without a Quirk. Pulling back slightly, he moved his hands to gently cup the other boy's cheeks, like his mama did when she wanted to tell him something important. "Yes you will." he said, lifting the green-haired boy's face up to his so that their gazes connected. "We made a promise to be heroes together, Deku. No backsies, remember?" he said with a soft smile, which only got wider when Izuku returned it with a watery smile of his own, although he didn't look very convinced._

 _Izuku sniffled a little as he smiled at his Kacchan, wondering if there really was a way he could be a hero without a Quirk. After all, none of the Pro Heroes were Quirkless like he was and so he wasn't sure how it would even be possible. It was almost as if the blonde boy that was holding his face in his hands could read his mind because, almost as soon as that thought had entered his head, Katsuki spoke again. "We'll find a way and we won't stop looking until we do because I don't want to be a hero without you, Deku."_

 _Unbeknownst to them, Inko Midoriya was watching the boys' exchange through the crack in Izuku's bedroom door, tears falling down her own face as she tried to stifle her own sobs. All her baby boy had ever wanted was to grow up to be a hero and when she had heard the prognosis, that her son was Quirkless, she could have sworn that she had heard the shattering of Izuku's little heart. Watching the way Katsuki held Izuku's face and reassured him that he could still be the hero he wanted to be, Inko was happy to see her son smile. She knew their efforts would be strenuous and would most likely end in disappointment but, in that moment, she wanted to believe with all of her heart that they would succeed because she never wanted to see her kind-hearted little boy lose that smile again._

It had been eleven years since Izuku Midoriya had received his Quirkless diagnosis and he still showed no signs of developing a Quirk. He didn't know why he was still hopeful because it was pretty much impossible for that to happen at this point. It was probably Kacchan, who was simply too convincing with his determined expression and his confident tone. Sighing, the green-haired teenaged leaned his head on his fist, elbow propped up on the desk he sat behind as he ignored the boring lecture that his teacher was giving at the front of the classroom. It was his last week of middle school and he was pretty sure he would forget all of the "wisdom" that she was trying to impart on them in the coming weeks.

Sneaking a glance to the left of him, he caught the familiar sight of spiky blonde hair over the top of the girl that sat at the desk between him and his best friend. Almost as if he sensed eyes on him, Kacchan looked up in his direction. Izuku had no idea how he always seemed to know when he was being watched but it wasn't unwelcome and the green-eyed boy shot his best friend a bright beam that deepened the dimples on his freckled cheeks. He received a million watt smile back from the other boy that almost made him want to chuckle a little but he refrained, not wanting to find himself in detention in his last week.

Luck was on their side however, as the bell rang moments later, marking the end of class. Getting up immediately and handing his messenger bag over his shoulder, Izuku maneuvered himself into position at his best friend's side and together they walked out of the classroom, heading to the cafeteria to get something to eat. Their fellow classmates parted from their groups to let them through as they walked, a small gesture that Izuku was always thankful for. Kacchan was the most popular boy in school and almost everyone treated him with respect. Without his best friend, Izuku knew that he'd have been lost in the crowd, struggling to survive whilst being constantly barraged with insults and remarks about his Quirklessness. He did still get that occasionally but it was almost always cut off by Kacchan, since the two of them were never too far from each other. The blonde teenager had promised him a long time ago that he would always protect him and he'd stayed true to his word.

Katsuki Bakugou had grown into a rather prickly, short-tempered person over the years and it became very clear to anyone around him that he had something of a superiority complex when it came to his Quirk and his hero-potential. If you asked most of his classmates why they showed him so much respect, they would probably tell you it was more out of fear than anything else. Bakugou was a loose canon to everyone… well, everyone besides Izuku.

As they entered the cafeteria, the blonde boy offered his arm out for his shorter friend to grab onto, much like usual. His Deku had trouble with big crowds and, with his short stature, he was constantly fearful of being lost in the crowd of people and being unable to make his own way to get lunch. Katsuki didn't like the idea of being separated from his best friend either, knowing that others would take advantage of that fact and take the opportunity to verbally attack him in Katsuki's absence. He wouldn't let that happen if he could help it. He had a promise to keep and he fully intended to do that for as long as he lived.

Once they had gotten their respective lunches, they walked together through the bustling crowds until they made it to their usual table, empty as usual because nobody would dare sit at Katsuki Bakugou's table. As soon as they were seated, the blonde boy turned to his green-haired friend with a questioning look. "Have you made up your mind yet about taking the U.A. entrance exam?" he asked, tilting his head to one side and raising a single brow, coaxing a laugh from his Deku.

"I… I don't know. Are you sure I even could? I've never heard of U.A. accepting Quirkless students onto the hero course before." Izuku had replied, mouth pressing into a thin line as he slumped in his seat, the pressure of the situation getting to him a little after all the years of preparation that he and Kacchan had gotten through to get to this point. It was no secret that U.A.'s entrance exam was strenuous and even dangerous in places. If it weren't for Recovery Girl, the school's nurse, the school wouldn't be able to run its exams the way it did. The green-haired teenager had done a lot of research into the famous school over the last eleven years.

Katsuki smiled at his best friend's meek response, placing a gentle hand over Deku's smaller one as he replied. "There's a first time for everything, Deku. If anyone can make it, it's you." He wasn't lying either because Katsuki had been watching the shorter boy grow over the years and he was pretty certain that, despite not having a Quirk, Deku would still make a great hero. "You can even use that support tech that you built over the summer. It's all finished and ready to go, right? Why don't you give it a shot?" the blonde boy suggested, thinking back to those summer days he had spend watching his best friend as he concentrated, sparks of electricity making the air around them all staticy as his Deku used all the skills he had learned at an offf-campus club for Hero Support hopefuls. Despite Katsuki's complete faith in him, his best friend had insisted on having a back-up plan and so he'd taken a shine to Hero Support. His excuse had been that, if he couldn't be a hero, he could at least help Katsuki to be a better one. The blonde boy had really appreciated that, even though he didn't believe that Deku needed that back-up plan. He loved that the green-haired boy cared about his dreams as much as he did his own. He had never really needed validation from anyone but Deku was the exception. His opinion was the only one that truly mattered.

Izuku nodded in response to Kacchan's statement but he still felt unsure. Even with his support gear, he'd still be at a huge disadvantage. After all, while his tech could make him slightly faster and slightly stronger or gave him a little bit of fire power, they weren't like a Quirk. They weren't infinite and they were breakable. If any part of his gear was damaged during the exam, he'd be left vulnerable to injury. There were so many ways that it could go wrong and yet there was a large part of him that was screaming for him to set aside his doubts and just go for it. After all, how could he insult Kacchan by declining when they had worked so hard over the past eleven years. Even though there were so many reasons that he could fail, he found himself sighing as he looked into the face of his best friend, smiling sheepishly. "O-Okay… I'll do it."

 **This idea popped into my head like three hours ago and I needed to write it down and post it as soon as I possibly could, so here you go and you're welcome. This is a story that I cannot wait to tell because the ideas swarming in my head are making my heart melt into a puddle of goo and I want to share it with you. I hope you enjoy this first chapter of a story I plan on being a long and emotional adventure.**

 **Comments are always appreciated, so feel free to tell me what you think.**

 **Much love,**

 **\- Aries**


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